English/Nat

After two days of mourning, foreign minister Shimon Peres has taken up his duties as acting prime minister of Israel.

Peres left for work this morning at the prime minister's office in Jerusalem surrounded by bodyguards.

It was Shimon Peres' first day at work as Acting Prime Minister Tuesday.

Security has been stepped up around the former Foreign Minister after a number of death threats.

Such threats are being taken extremely seriously by a twitchy Security Service after a 25-year-old law student, Yigal Amir, broke through security ranks to shoot Yitzhak Rabin.

Rabin was the first head of state to be assassinated in Israel and to many his killing has marked the beginning of a new era.

Throughout the morning, Peres was visited by international heads-of-state who not only offered their condolences but messages of hope and support for the future.

Fear is mounting over the effect the recent assassination will have over the already shaky peace process.

Britain's Prime Minister John Major spent some time with Peres.

Afterwards, Peres told the press his top concern remained the peace process -- and elections came second.

SOUNDBITE: (English)

"For us the main consideration is the peace process and not the term of the government. I said yesterday and I will repeat it again - for us to win peace is more important even than to win the elections."

QUESTION : "So you won't go to elections now?"

ANSWER: "I shall continue with the process of peace as we have started and we shall go on."

SUPERCAPTION: Shimon Peres acting prime minister.

Australia's President Paul Keating spent several minutes with Peres.

And Crown Prince Hassan of Jordan met the Israeli President.

The presence of so many Arab leaders has given rise to hopes that the peace Rabin was so instrumental in negotiating may have changed politics in the region for good.

But although Peres went back to work, mourning is far from over for the rest of the nation.

At the site of the assassination - Tel Aviv's Kikar Malkei square- thousands of mourning candles burnt brightly in the early morning sun.

Scores of Israeli's continue to stop and pay their respects to their fallen leader.

Some write notes - others leave flowers and wreaths. Some simply cry.

VOXPOP: (English)

"I still can't believe what has happened and that we can get back to the same everyday life. Rabin is dead and I still can't believe what is going on here and what is going to happen afterwards"

SUPERCAPTION : Naomi, student from Jerusalem

Israel had closed the Gaza strip and West Bank after the assassination fearing attacks by Islamic militants.

But some people Tuesday were being allowed through the strict security controls. Men over 35 had to show passes.

In a country which has lived with violence since its birth, Rabin's killing has merely added to the sense of insecurity.

Jerusalem, Israel. 7 November 1995

1. Bodyguard

2. Various of Peres getting in car and leaving for work

3. Exterior of prime minister's office

4. Cutaway of cameraman

5. Peres and Major exiting

6. SOUNDBITE: Peres

7. Peres with Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating

8. Peres on sofa with Keating

9. Peres talking on phone to Irish Prime Minister John Bruton

11. Jordan's Crown Prince Hassan arrives at President's building

12. Hassan on chair

Tel Aviv 7 November 1995

7. Various of mourners

8. Various of Kikar Malkei square and flowers and wreaths

Jerusalem 7 November 1995

10. VOXPOP: (English)

Erez junction, Gaza strip 7 November 1995

12. Trucks lined up at the junction

13. Palestinians waiting

14. Soldier on guard

15. Israeli soldiers checking I-D documents

16. Cars driving through check point

17. Soldiers with guns

SHOTLIST

AP Entertainment

Tel Aviv, 30 Nov. 2015

1. Exterior of Peres Center for Peace

2. Various shots former Israeli President Shimon Peres and actor Sean Penn seated and talking

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Shimon Peres/Former Israeli President:

"I watched you in 'Mystic River' and 'Milk.' They are great. But to be frank, what moved me is what you did in Haiti."

4. Wide shot Penn and Peres greeting each other

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Sean Penn/Actor

"Thank you. You know, we did have some great Israeli partners there, and motivators there and I have to say that, while I appreciate your words tremendously, it's a little embarrassing because the reciprocal comments that I would have would take many many days."

SEAN PENN MEETS SHIMON PERES

Actor Sean Penn met the former president of Israel on Monday (30 NOV. 2015) during a visit to the country.

Penn is in Israel to speak at a conference by an Israeli aid group about reconstructing Haiti following the 2010 earthquake.

The "I Am Sam" and "Milk" actor founded J/P Haitian Relief Organization after the massive earthquake hit Haiti on 12 January 2010.

Peres, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, told Penn that while he was impressed by his acting talent, he was even more moved by his work in Haiti.

Penn, meanwhile, praised Peres, who won the Nobel Peace Prize (with Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat) in 1994 for efforts to achieve peace with the Palestinians.

"I have to say that while I appreciate your words tremendously, it's a little embarrassing because the reciprocal comments that I would have would take many many days," Penn said.

SHOTLIST

AP Entertainment

Tel Aviv - 23 November, 2007

1. Jerry Seinfeld talking to press

2. Close-up Seinfeld

3. Seinfeld walking away

Jerusalem - 23 November, 2007

4. Israeli President Shimon Peres greeting Jerry Seinfeld

5. Peres and Seinfeld talking

6. Various of meeting

7. Peres and Seinfeld walking in garden

SEINFIELD IN ISRAEL

Star comedian Jerry Seinfeld arrived in Israel on Friday in the first stop on a world tour to promote his new animated film "Bee Movie."

It was the 53-year-old's second visit to the Jewish state.

He volunteered on a kibbutz in northern Israel in 1970.

Seinfeld, who is Jewish, met with Israeli President Shimon Peres and then toured Jerusalem's Old City near the Western Wall, the holiest site for Jews, and made a stop at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Seinfeld explained his movie to the 84-year-old Nobel peace laureate.

Seinfeld also gave Peres an explanation of computer animation.

The DreamWorks-Paramount flick that Seinfeld co-wrote and co-produced debuted Nov. 2 and has been in first or second place among top hits in U.S. theatres since, bringing in 94 million US dollars.

'Bee Movie' tells the story of bee Barry Benson (Seinfeld) who has just graduated from college and is depressed that he, like all of his fellow bees, is condemned to make honey for the rest of his life.

Benson leaves his hive looking for a little excitement. He finds that excitement when he is almost killed by a human.

Luckily for Benson he is saved by Vanessa (Zellweger) who is a bee lover and a florist.

Benson continues to leave the hive to visit Vanessa when he discovers humans are stealing honey from bees.

FE CAS TEL AVIV: Opera singer, Placido Domingo, performs at an

29078602 open air concert in Tel Aviv in aid of victims of last year's

1"VT+BVU earthquake in Mexico, in which some of his relatives died.

C/R = MUSIC

F29078602

Placido Domingo arriving for rehearsal:

Violinist, Yitzhak Perlman, sot on aims of concert:

Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra conductor, Zubin Mehta, sot about Israel being 'more than invaders of Lebanon':

19/7

VS Concert:

Israeli PM, Shimon Peres, arriving:

Arik Sharon and Israeli President, Chaim Herzog arriving:

Perlman playing:

Domingo singing:

SHOTLIST

1. Wide pan of Israeli stand at Book Fair

2. Man reading books at Israeli stand

3. Tilt down of biographies on Israeli President Shimon Peres on display

4. Person flicking through pages of book

5. Peres standing for photographs with French Culture Minister Christine Albanel amongst crowd

6. Peres heading for stage to make speech amongst crowd; divider falls from ceiling and security hold briefcase over his head

7. Wide of Peres approaching podium

8. SOUNDBITE (Hebrew) Shimon Peres, Israeli President:

"Those who want to burn books, boycott wisdom, prevent reflection, block freedom, condemn themselves to blindness, to ignorance, to a lack of reflection and to a loss of freedom."

9. Wide of Peres at podium

10. SOUNDBITE (Hebrew) Shimon Peres, Israeli President:

"A language without a state risks being either an orphan or a mute. We don't have any brothers in (the Hebrew) language nor sisters in (our) religion. Language has no borders. A state does, and we have to defend it."

11. Peres greeting Albanel

12. SOUNDBITE (English) Jack Lang, Former French Culture Minister:

"This (boycott) is completely absurd, stupid, and non-acceptable. Literature belongs to the citizens, to the poets, to the people and there is no frontier between writers and literature."

13. Lang speaking to attendees

14. SOUNDBITE (French) Serge Eyrolles, President of Publisher's Union and Organiser of Book Fair:

"It is essential to defend freedom of expression around the world, to not let ourselves be intimidated. Reading must not become a dangerous sport."

15. Wide of presentation

STORYLINE

Opening the Paris Book Fair should have been a low-key cultural event during Israeli President Shimon Peres' state visit to France. Instead, it was charged with Middle East tensions.

Several Arab countries are boycotting the prestigious annual fair, where Peres spoke on Thursday, because it honours Israeli writers.

Peres criticised those who want to "boycott wisdom", saying they are only hurting themselves.

"Those who want to burn books, boycott wisdom, prevent reflection, block freedom, condemn themselves to blindness, to ignorance, to a lack of reflection and to a loss of freedom," he said.

Security officers lined the streets surrounding the fair venue on Paris' southern edge and packed the hall where Peres spoke.

At one point security officers leapt to shield the president from a room divider which fell from the ceiling.

Peres' appearance at the book fair comes near the end of his five-day state visit to France, a sign of French President Nicolas Sarkozy's effort to rebuild frayed ties with Israel.

Each year the international fair puts the spotlight on one country.

This year it is inviting 39 writers from Israel, including David Grossman, Amos Oz, A.B. Yehoshua and Aharon Appelfeld.

The Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation urged its 50 member nations to boycott the fair, saying Israel should not be honoured at a time of "siege" against the Palestinian people.

Iran, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia were among those heeding the boycott call, though some writers, publishers and booksellers from those countries were expected to attend, according to organisers.

France's former Culture minister, Jack Lang, branded the boycott "completely absurd, stupid, and non-acceptable".

"Literature belongs to the citizens, to the poets, to the people and there is no frontier between writers and literature," he told AP Television.

The fair's organiser, Serge Eyrolles, said it was important to defend freedom of expression around the world.

"Reading must not become a dangerous sport," he said.

The fair opens to the public on Friday and runs through March 19.

Pope Francis arrived in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Sunday, for the final leg of a Holy Land pilgrimage.

He was greeted upon his arrival at Ben Guiron airport by Israeli President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"The right of the State of Israel to exist and to flourish in peace and security within internationally recognised borders must be universally recognised," said the pope during his address at the welcome ceremony.

In remarks to Israeli leaders, Francis added that "there is no other way" but to restart peace talks aiming for a two-state solution to the territorial conflict between Israel and Palestine.

Francis started the second day of his Middle East trip with a deeply symbolic decision to visit Bethlehem ahead of coming to Israel.

Previous popes have always visited the West Bank after first arriving in Tel Aviv.

Palestinian officials hailed Francis' decision to arrive first in Bethlehem, and to refer to the "state of Palestine."

In its official programme, the Vatican referred to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as the president of the "state of Palestine," and his Bethlehem office as the "presidential palace."

Both Israelis and Palestinians have been trying to harness the Pope's standing as leader of the world's Roman Catholics to bolster their duelling narratives.

Francis, however, said his three-day Middle East visit is largely meant as a spiritual journey.

The pontiff on Sunday invited the Israeli and Palestinian Presidents to pay a symbolic visit to the Vatican next month to pray for peace.

The offices of Abbas and Peres quickly confirmed that they had accepted the invitation, with the Palestinians saying the meeting would take place in June.

The invitation - and the acceptances - were unexpected given Francis' insistence that his three-day visit was a "strictly religious" pilgrimage to commemorate a Catholic-Orthodox anniversary.

But it showed that the pope has been able to channel his immense popular appeal to be a moral force for peace, even though

the proposed meeting will be largely a symbolic affair.

Israeli-Palestinian peace talks broke down in late April, and there have been no public high-level meetings for a year.

Peres, a 90-year-old Nobel Peace laureate, is set to step down over the summer, and the meeting would take place shortly before he leaves office.

Peres, whose job is largely ceremonial, has no authority to negotiate peace, and the meeting will be merely symbolic.

But he nonetheless risks upsetting Netanyahu with the move.

POOL

1. Military parade at the Ben Gurion airport, ahead of Pope Francis' landing

2. Pope Francis stepping down from the helicopter

3. Israel's President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu walking on red carpet towards the Pope

4. Pope Francis greeting Peres

5. Peres, Netanyahu and Pope Francis standing in line as military band starts playing

6. Peres, Netanyahu and Francis walking on the red carpet

7. Mid of Francis

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Shimon Peres, Israeli President:

++STARTS ON PRECEDING SHOT AND INCLUDES CUTAWAY OF FRANCIS++

"You have arrived in the state of Israel where members of different religions and nationalities live together. Israel is a Jewish and democratic state where we live in coexistence within our borders and continue to search for peace beyond them. We shall not allow anybody to violate this commitment."

9. Wide of Peres on podium

10. SOUNDBITE (English) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:

"Israel is an island of tolerance. We safeguard the rights of all faiths. We guarantee freedom of worship for all and we are committed to maintaining the status quo in the holy sites of Christians, Muslims and Jews."

11. Netanyahu and the pope shaking hands

12. SOUNDBITE (Italian) Pope Francis:

"I express my hope and prayer that this blessed land may be one which has no place for those who, by exploiting and absolutising the value of their own religious tradition, prove intolerant and violent towards those of others."

13. Wide of Pope Francis during speech

14. SOUNDBITE (Italian) Pope Francis

++INCLUDES CUTAWAYS OF PERES AND NETANYAHU++

"The right of the State of Israel to exist and to flourish in peace and security within internationally recognised borders must be universally recognised. At the same time, there must also be a recognition of the right of the Palestinian people to a sovereign homeland and their right to live with dignity and with freedom of movement. The "Two State Solution" must become reality and not remain merely a dream."

15. Pope Francis, Netanyahu and Peres walking on the red carpet

16. Francis shaking hands with Netanyahu before getting into car

17. Pope Francis getting out of the car and entering helicopter

18. Wide of helicopter taxiing

SHOTLIST:

1. Wide-shot of Sheremetyevo airport

2. Wide-shot of press briefing

3. Cutaway press

4. Cutaway officials

5. SOUNDBITE: (English) Shimon Peres, Israeli Foreign Minister

"We were reacting against actions, unusually violent and dangerous to Israel."

6. Wide shot briefing

7. SOUNDBITE: (Hebrew) Shimon Peres, Israeli Foreign Minister

"The position of the League of Arab States is very discouraging. But no one will be able to discourage us enough to stop the peace process."

8. Cutaway press

9. Wide-shot end of press briefing

10. Mid-shot zoom out Peres arrives at Leo Tolstoy museum

11. Mid-shot bench and portrait of Tolstoy

12. Mid-shot zoom out Peres walks

13. Close-shot of security man

14. Mid-shot Peres looks through Tolstoy manuscripts

15. Wide-shot museum compound

16. SOUNDBITE: (Hebrew) Shimon Peres, Israeli Foreign Minister

"I haven't come here to call you to hate the Palestinians. I'm here to condemn terrorism."

17. Wide-shot festivities marking Israel Day at Moscow's Hermitage Museum

18. Mid-shot man with an Israeli flag

19. Wide-shot zoom ou a string with Israeli flags

20. Wide-shot dancing

21. Mid-shot audience

22. Mid-shot girls dance

23. Wide-shot dancing

24. Mid-shot Peres with officials at the gala performance

25. Close-shot of Peres

26. Wide-shot audience applauding

23. SOUNDBITE: (Russian) Shimon Peres, Israeli Foreign Minister

"Good evening, dear friends. It is a great pleasure for me to be with you and celebrate Jerusalem Day."

24. Wide-shot Peres on the stage

STORYLINE:

Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres has ended the first day of his visit to Moscow by attending a city festival marking the 53rd anniversary of the State of Israel.

Upon his arrival in the Russian capital on Sunday, Peres said he was looking forward to meeting President Vladimir Putin to hear Moscow's view of the current situation in the Middle East.

He is due to hold talks with Putin on the escalating violence in the Middle East.

He defended the government's military actions against Palestinians, saying they were in retaliation for acts of terror.

Later in the day, Peres paid homage to Leo Tolstoy by visiting a museum dedicated to the writer.

In the evening, Peres watched festivities and a gala performance in Moscow's Hermitage Garden, marking the Day of Israel.

STORY: FORUM

LOCATION: CASABLANCA, MOROCCO

DATE: 30-31 OCTOBER 1994

DURATION: 1.38

Rabin, al-Shaath, Peres talk economics and peace

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin told the opening session of

the Middle East-North Africa forum in Casablanca on Sunday (30/10)

that extremist organisations opposed to Israel were the "real

enemies of the Middle East peace process". He said poverty in the

Palestinian communities bred extremist groups like Hamas and

Islamic Jihad, and called on the world community to respond with

more aid. "As an Israeli I am interested that a Palestinian in

Gaza entertain better economic and social conditions, because

poverty is a fertile ground for the growth of the Hamas and

Islamic Jihad," said Rabin. Qatar's foreign minister, Sheikh Hamad

al-Thani, meeting his Israeli counterpart, reacted diplomatically

to Rabin's speech, saying he believed the Israeli Prime Minister

had over-reacted. But PLO delegate Nabil al-Shaath said the

hard-line taken by Rabin regarding Hamas did not help the peace

process. Addressing a forum breakfast on Monday (31/10), Israeli

foreign minister Shimon Peres concentrated on the opportunities

that would follow peace in the Middle East. Peres predicted that

the coming two years would be great years economically for the

world and said that the Middle East should grab the opportunity to

boost its own growth. More than 1,500 businessmen and 900

politicians from 60 countries were taking part in a forum.

SHOWS: (CASABLANCA, MOROCCO 30/10) WS forum. MS delegates

listening to Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin. SOT Rabin: "Not

the PLO, not Jordan, not Syria, not Lebanon, but the extreme

radical Islamic terror groups what I call Khomeniism without

Khomeni." Qatar foreign minister Sheikh Hamad al-Thani with

Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres. SOT Sheikh Hamad al-Thani:

"I will say one thing, I don't agree with all that he said, I told

Mr Peres that... I think he was over-reacting." PLO delegate Nabil

al-Shaath being interviewed. SOT Nabil al-Shaath: "The appeal for

money, the appeal for economic support cannot be separated from

the appeal for the solution of the political problems, and real

reconciliation."

(CASABLANCA, MOROCCO 31/10)

Shimon Peres addressing breakfast

meeting. SOT Peres: "This is a step, the first step... in an

entirely different direction. We believe that the coming two years

will be great years economically speaking for the rest of the

world. For the Middle East it will be a great opportunity to join

in." Delegates reacting. VS shots of breakfast meeting.

T/I 10:19:40

STORY: SITUATION

LOCATION: MIDDLE EAST

DATE: 10 AUGUST 1995

DURATION: 1.31

Peres-Arafat self-rule talks edge forward; settlers protest

Israel and the PLO have agreed on overcoming "most" of the

stumbling blocks to an agreement on widening Palestinian self-rule

and have begun drafting the points of accord, Foreign Minister

Shimon Peres announced on Thursday (10/8). However, Yasser

Arafat's spokesman Marwan Kanafani quickly shot this down, saying

they had agreed only on some of the key issues and negotiations

were continuing. The issues were: security control of Hebron,

control of roads in rural areas of the West Bank, economic

projects, water-sharing and the future of 6,000 Palestinians in

Israeli prisons. Kanafani said the Israeli refusal to withdraw

from Hebron remained a major problem. Israel wants to stay in

Hebron to protect the settlers who are surrounded by 120,000

Palestinians. Arafat and Peres have spent most of the last four

days in Taba trying to nail down an accord to implement the second

phase of autonomy: army redeployment on the West Bank, transfer of

civil powers and elections. Peres rushed to Jerusalem late on

Wednesday for "urgent consultation" with Prime Minister Yitzhak

Rabin, raising hopes that an overall deal was imminent. But the

hopes soon faded. In another development, settlers who had taken

over hilltops near the Arab village of Nebi Shmuel and the

settlement of Hashmonaim dispersed peacefully at the request of

security forces on Thursday.

SHOWS:

(TABA, EGYPT 10/8)

Shimon Peres followed by Yasser Arafat emerging from talks. Negotiators around luncheon table. PAN across to Peres. Arafat seated. Palestinian and Israeli teams at table.

(NABI SAMUIL, WEST BANK RECENT)

Israeli policemen walking down hill to protesters' camp. Soldier with megaphone. Settlers chained together sitting down. Settler being carried away by policeman. Another settler being taken away and put into police van.

(TABA, EGYPT 10/8)

Peres emerging from afternoon talks. SOT Peres: "Look, we have agreed on most of the issues." CU Peres. CU Arafat's spokesman Marwan Kanafani. SOT Kanifani: "I'm more confident now than I was in the morning. That doesn't mean much though." Kanafani seated. Peres past camera position and away.

T/I: 10:20:17

STORY: PERES

LOCATION: ISRAEL

DATE: 3 MARCH 1995

DURATION: 0.57

US decision on Jordan debts could end peace, says FM

Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres warned on Friday (3/3) of a

potential blow to Middle East peace efforts following a

Republican-led US congressional decision to cut the amount of

debt reduction that Jordan would get in the next year from the 275

million dollars recommended by President Clinton to 50 million

dollars. Republicans are pushing for a $17 billion cut in spending

for the 1995 fiscal year, which would affect foreign debt payments

and lending policies to Jordan and other countries. President

Clinton had promised to write off Jordanian debts in return for

King Hussein making peace with Israel in 1994. Peres said dangers

for the peace accord were very real unless Jordan received the

US debt relief. Peres made his remarks while visiting the

Israeli-Arab town of Kafr Kassem during the Moslem "Eid El-fitr"

feast.

SHOWS:

(KAFR KASSEM, ISRAEL 3/3) Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon

Peres arrives. SOT Peres saying Jordan was promised clearly that

she will be forgiven about foreign aid, her foreign debt rather,

which is 275 million dollars, and I think that you cannot make

war without ammunition, and you cannot achieve peace without

foreign aid. The leaderships of every country have to show we are

not asking anything for Israel, in this case, but we think that

peace wherever it occurs should be supported." Peres into car, car

drives away.

STORY: ARAFAT

LOCATION: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM/MIDDLE EAST

DATE: 28 NOVEMBER 1994

DURATION: 1.14

PLO leader, Peres talk peace with EU; Rabbi buried

PLO leader Yasser Arafat said after meeting Israeli Foreign

Minister Shimon Peres on Monday (28/11) that he hoped there would

soon be elections in the former occupied territories. "The

Israelis understand our need for quick elections, but at the same

time we also have to understand the necessity for security," he

added. Flanked by Peres, who is on a one-day visit to Brussels,

Arafat said free elections spelled stability for his people. Under

the limited self-rule accord signed between the PLO and Israel six

months ago, elections were to have taken place in July in the Gaza

Strip and Jericho and parts of the West Bank still administered by

Israel. However, talks got bogged down over the nature and size of

the elected assembly and whether Palestinian groups who reject the

self-rule deal should be allowed to stand for office. Peres said

negotiations had reopened in Brussels over when elections should

take place, adding that the talks should not take place publicly.

"Today we have agreed on an agenda. I don't think that we need to

negotiate publicly. We intend to negotiate with our Palestinian

partners very seriously," he added. Peres also discussed security

in Gaza and the West Bank at meetings in Brussels with European

Union officials. The security issue was emphasised yet again, in

the West Bank, with the funeral on Monday of 34-year-old Rabbi

Amiram Ulami, who was killed on Sunday morning by gunmen near a

Jewish settlement south of Hebron. Hundreds of mourners, including

many settlers attended the burial. The rabbi's death brought to

100 the number of Israelis killed in attacks since the signing of

the peace agreement in September last year.

SHOWS:

(BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, 28/11) Peres and Arafat embracing. Int.

ws press conference. Arafat, SOT: "The majority of our masses are

supporting the peace process, and we are committed to this

process." Peres, SOT: "May I say on the Israeli part that we

are working with the Palestinian authority and Chairman Arafat

together so to make the agreement a success. We are not going to

stop it." Photo opportunity Arafat and Peres. CU Arafat. CU Peres.

(WEST BANK, 28/11) WS Mourners approaching burial site. Burial.

Cutaway crying child. Earth shovelled. Pan of mourners at burial.

T/I: 10:27:16

STORY: REACTION

LOCATION: GAZA/JERUSALEM

DATE: 2 JULY 1995

DURATION: 1.11

Peres and Arafat fail to agree on self-rule expansion

Israel and the PLO failed to sign an agreement by Sunday (2/7) to

extend Palestinian self-rule in the West Bank. PLO leader Yasser

Arafat and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres talked throughout

Saturday night but couldn't work out their differences. One of the

key issues still in dispute was a timetable for the withdrawal of

Israeli troops from Palestinian cities in the West Bank. The two

leaders refused to provide details of their disagreement but one

Palestinian source said the sticking point was an Israeli demand

that troops be allowed to return after redeployment. The failure

to meet the target date, set three months ago, was marked by

violence. Israeli demonstrators protesting against any troop

redeployment clashed with police in Jerusalem. About 300 Israelis

rallied outside the prime minister's office, where government

ministers were meeting. Police prevented the protestors from

entering the building and witnesses said the two sides exchanged

blows.

SHOWS:

(GAZA 2/7)

Peres and Arafat shaking hands at meeting table. Exterior of building. Peres and Arafat walking down steps. Peres and Arafat walking toward media crowd. SOT Peres: "We tried to do our best but the night was not long enough. Peres speaking. Crowd. Peres getting into car.

(JERUSALEM 2/7)

Meeting of Israeli cabinet ministers. Exterior prime minister's office building. Protestors. Man pushing soldier. Crowd of protestors. Man being put into ambulance. Crowd on street.

T/I: 10:25:59

STORY: PERES

LOCATION: EREZ JUNCTION, GAZA

DATE: 1 JULY 1995

DURATION: 1.12

Israeli FM and Arafat make last-minute attempt to bridg gap

Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and PLO Chairman Yasser

Arafat met at the Erez Junction checkpoint on Saturday (1/7) in a

last minute attempt to narrow differences over widening

Palestinian self-rule. Neither would speculate whether agreement

was likely before the expiry of Saturday's deadline. Israeli and

Palestinian officials said there was no final agreement on an

Israeli troop deployment in the occupied West Bank and Palestinian

elections. It is expected that Peres and Arafat will issue a

general declaration of principles allowing them more time for

negotiations to finalise an accord. A PLO official said

negotiations could move to Washington, where an agreement might be

signed within weeks.

SHOWS:

(EREZ, GAZA 1/7)

VS of Peres and Arafat arriving for their meeting. VS of Peres and Arafat sitting around table.

T/I 10:28:41

STORY: WRAP

LOCATION: CAIRO/GAZA/SOUTH LEBANON/BETHLEHEM

DATE: 23 FEBRUARY 1995

DURATION: 1.13

Peres-Moussa talk about nuclear disarmament; Gaza bomb

injures Israeli soldiers; jets hit South Lebanon Hezbollah

The foreign ministers of Israel and Egypt met in Cairo on Thursday

(23/2) in an effort to resolve their dispute over Israel's refusal

to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. They failed to reach

agreement. However Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres did

refer, cautiously, to some progress. He said that he and Egyptian

foreign minister Amr Moussa had agreed on some points, disagreed

on others and that they would continue to talk. Israel has refused

to sign the treaty until there's a comprehensive peace in the

Middle East. In the Gaza Strip, two Israeli soldiers were injured

when a bomb exploded on a road near a Jewish settlement. And there

was more fighting in South Lebanon. For a fifth straight day,

Hezbollah guerrillas and Israeli soldiers exchanged fire across

the border. Several Hezbollah communities in Southern Lebanon were

shelled by the Israelis after Hezbollah guerrillas attacked

fortified positions in Israel's self-declared "security zone."

Radical Palestinians opposed to the peace process marched through

the campus of Bethlehem University to mark the anniversary of the

founding of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

The protestors chanted slogans against both the Israeli government

and the PLO.

SHOWS:

(CAIRO 23/2) WS Peres and Moussa, zoom to Peres. Meeting building. Peres SOT: "On the issue of the NPT, we reached agreement on some points, we didn't reach agreement on others; we've agreed to continue our consultations."

(GAZA STRIP) Roadblock. Truck. Soldiers walk toward roadblock.

(SOUTH LEBANON) Israeli shell explodes. Israeli warplane flies

over. Explosion on ground.

(BETHLEHEM) Black hooded protestors march. CU marchers. Man

brandishing sword. Protestors on stage. WS above.

SHOTLIST:

4:3 Pope Francis meets King Abdullah II, Queen Rania

2004763

POOL

Amman - 24 May 2014

1. Wide of guard of honour, red carpet and stage with Pope Francis and Jordanian King Abdullah II

2. Tracking shot of Pope and King walking on red carpet and chatting, Queen Rania walking behind them

3. Wide of meeting between Pope, King Abdullah II and Queen Rania

Pope prays on the banks of the River Jordan

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Bethany-Beyond-The-Jordan - 24 May 2014

4. Pope Francis looking into the Jordan River

5. River Jordan, pan to Pope Francis praying

Pope Francis briefly prays at Israeli separation barrier

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Bethlehem - 25 May 2014

6. Pope Francis walks up to separation barrier, which is covered by graffiti

7. Pope praying at separation barrier

Pope welcomed by Netanyahu and Peres on final leg of Holy Land pilgrimage

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Tel Aviv - 25 May 2014

8. Israel's President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu walking on red carpet towards the Pope

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:

"Israel is an island of tolerance. We safeguard the rights of all faiths. "

10. Netanyahu and the pope shaking hands

Pope Francis visits Western Wall, the holiest place where Jews can pray

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Jerusalem - 26 May 2014

11. Pope Francis with rabbi of Western Wall, Shmuel Rabinovitch, walking towards Western Wall

12. Pope Francis reading note, placing note in wall, praying at wall

13. Pope joins rabbi embraces Sheik Omar Abboud of the Islamic Centre of Buenos Aires (left), and Rabbi Abraham Skorka, both of whom are friends of the pope from Buenos Aires who are travelling with him on the Middle East trip

STORYLINE:

On May 24th 2014 Pope Francis met with Jordanian King Abdullah II and his wife, Queen Rania in Amman.

The Pope started his three-day visit to the Middle East in Jordan, the country he thanked for welcoming hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing the civil war in Syria.

***

Pope Francis took a 50 kilometre (31 mile) drive away from Amman on May 24th to make an emotional visit to the River Jordan and the site where Christians believe Christ was baptised by John the Baptist.

The Pontiff bowed his head and prayed on the river bank in silence before walking to the Latina Church to join a group of Syrian and Iraqi refugees and disabled youngsters.

Earlier, after meeting Jordan's King Hussein and Queen Rania, the Pope hosted an open air Mass for tens of thousands of worshippers.

***

Pope Francis on May 25th briefly prayed at the separation barrier surrounding the biblical West Bank town of Bethlehem.

Francis stopped at the barrier en route to Manger Square where he was to lead a Sunday mass for thousands of pilgrims.

The pope bowed his head in silent prayer at the massive concrete wall, which surrounds three sides of Bethlehem.

Israel says the barrier is necessary for its security but the Palestinians say it has stifled life in Bethlehem and engulfed land across the West Bank.

***

Pope Francis arrived in Tel Aviv, Israel, on May 25th, for the final leg of a Holy Land pilgrimage.

He was greeted upon his arrival at Ben Guiron airport by Israeli President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"The right of the State of Israel to exist and to flourish in peace and security within internationally recognised borders must be universally recognised," said the pope during his address at the welcome ceremony.

In remarks to Israeli leaders, Francis added that "there is no other way" but to restart peace talks aiming for a two-state solution to the territorial conflict between Israel and Palestine.

Francis started the second day of his Middle East trip with a deeply symbolic decision to visit Bethlehem ahead of coming to Israel.

Previous popes have always visited the West Bank after first arriving in Tel Aviv.

Palestinian officials hailed Francis' decision to arrive first in Bethlehem, and to refer to the "state of Palestine."

In its official programme, the Vatican referred to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as the president of the "state of Palestine," and his Bethlehem office as the "presidential palace."

Both Israelis and Palestinians have been trying to harness the Pope's standing as leader of the world's Roman Catholics to bolster their duelling narratives.

Francis, however, said his three-day Middle East visit is largely meant as a spiritual journey.

The pontiff on May 25th invited the Israeli and Palestinian Presidents to pay a symbolic visit to the Vatican next month to pray for peace.

The offices of Abbas and Peres quickly confirmed that they had accepted the invitation, with the Palestinians saying the meeting would take place in June.

The invitation - and the acceptances - were unexpected given Francis' insistence that his three-day visit was a "strictly religious" pilgrimage to commemorate a Catholic-Orthodox anniversary.

But it showed that the pope has been able to channel his immense popular appeal to be a moral force for peace, even though

the proposed meeting will be largely a symbolic affair.

Israeli-Palestinian peace talks broke down in late April, and there have been no public high-level meetings for a year.

Peres, a 90-year-old Nobel Peace laureate, is set to step down over the summer, and the meeting would take place shortly before he leaves office.

Peres, whose job is largely ceremonial, has no authority to negotiate peace, and the meeting will be merely symbolic.

But he nonetheless risks upsetting Netanyahu with the move.

***

Pope Francis on May 26th prayed at Jerusalem's Western Wall, the holiest place where Jews can pray, as he continued his visit to the Middle East.

He bowed his head as he touched the wall in the same gesture used a day earlier to pray at the Israeli barrier surrounding the biblical West Bank town of Bethlehem.

Francis spent a few minutes before the only remains of the biblical Second Temple and left a note inside an envelope in one of the cracks between the stones.

When St. John Paul II visited in 2000, he left a note asking forgiveness for the suffering inflicted on Jews by Christians over history.

Pope Benedict XVI's note prayed for peace for Christians, Muslims and Jews alike.

The Vatican hasn't said if the contents of Francis' prayer would be released.

English/Nat

Five years after Israel and the Palestinians signed their first historic peace accord, the two peoples are still far from realising their goals of full reconciliation.

But a small group of actors from both sides of the divide have found a stage to share their tangled lives.

It's a project led by New York University and sponsored by both the Shimon Peres Peace Center and the United States Information Service.

It's produced The Last Enemy, a play about the Arab-Israeli conflict which is both lighthearted and deeply moving.

From all over the Middle East, a troupe of Israeli, Arab and Muslim performers have created The Last Enemy - a comical, deeply moving and even tragic look at the Israeli-Arab conflict and the real lives it affects.

The former Israeli Prime Minister, Shimon Peres, one of the architects of the peace process, introduced the play as it opened in Tel Aviv.

He said the play showed that it was still possible for all sides involved in the conflict to live peacefully side by side.

SOUNDBITE: (English)

"So it is possible. Jordanians, Palestinians, Israelis, Europeans, on the same stage with the same hope."

SUPER CAPTION: Shimon Peres, Former Israeli Prime Minister)

A play within a play, the show begins with the "actors," being lectured by their mentor on how they must work together.

This means they must leave their pasts behind and make something new.

Sceptical, they fall under the influence of the Old Actor, who is eager to turn the clock back and keep the actors in their original roles of enemies.

As they storyline develops, the actors struggle to remain in character as Jew and Muslim fall in love, forcing them to tackle their old prejudices and break new ground.

The play delighted its audience on the opening night.

Afterwards, the entire company said the play brought to life their own feelings and fears about the peace process.

And Peres said that he believed the stage was an excellent forum in which to tackle these issues.

SOUNDBITE: (English)

"I don't know if Shakespeare was right when he said "the whole world is a stage", but I'm sure that the stage is a part of our world."

SUPER CAPTION: Shimon Peres, Former Israeli Prime Minister

One of the play's leading actresses told how taking part in the show had changed her own perception.

SOUNDBITE: (English)

"But for me I'm proud of this project and also it gives me the chance to see the Israelis differently from the way I've seen them in Lebanon. I have seen them in a very different way, so I don't like to talk to them, you know. When I come here it becomes like - you have to communicate because you are neighbours. Whatever you like each other you hate each other this is the only thing - that we can communicate."

SUPER CAPTION: Ihssan Turkia, Actress

The Last Enemy, which opened in early October at the United Nations, has so far played to Jewish audiences in Tel Aviv, Israeli-Arab audiences in the Israeli cities of Haifa and Jaffa, and to Palestinians in Ramallah in the West Bank.

And it has thrilled audiences every time, and made them think again about the way they live.

Tel Aviv, Israel, 28 October 1998 (features)

1. Actors backstage putting on makeup for show

2. Shimon Peres at reception

3. People giving tickets to usher

4. People applauding

5. SOUNDBITE: (English) Shimon Peres, Former Israeli Prime Minister

6. Fade in to show actor introducing show

7. Dance piece

8. Two actors perform somersaults

9. Ihssan Turkia performing monologue over grave

10. Close shot Ihssan Turkia on stage

11. Curtain call, fade in

12. People applauding

13. Group shot of actors with Shimon Peres

14. SOUNDBITE: (English) Shimon Peres, Former Israeli Prime Minister

15. SOUNDBITE: (English) Ihssan Turkia, Actress

16. Shimon Peres talking to reporters

SHOTLIST:

Jerusalem, Israel. 18th July, 2013.

1. 00:00 Wide of Israeli president Shimon Peres greeting NBA star Amari Stoudemire, and standing back to back, laughing.

2. 00:16 Cutaway media.

3. 00:20 SOUNDBITE: (English) Amar'e Stoudemire:

"I feel there's a way to cure poverty through education, and that is what my charity effort has been pretty much been all about, is really being able to cure poverty through education, and so being able to expand that here in Israel is a great accomplishment."

4. 00:42 Wide of Peres and Stoudemire.

5. 00:46 SOUNDBITE: (English) Amari Stoudemire:

"Playing basketball in the NBA is a platform that allows me to become a somewhat of a role model for the youth and that's a responsibility that most of us have on our shoulders is to be somewhat positive role models for the youth because we are their heroes they look up to us."

6. 01:08 Close of Stoudemire.

7. 01:13 SOUNDBITE: (English) Israeli president Shimon Peres:

"Since you have already achieved all the possible achievements elsewhere come in and join team, our national group for basketball, it will be very very meaningful."

8. 01:27 Wide of Peres and Stoudemire sitting.

9. 01:32 SOUNDBITE: (English) Israeli president Shimon Peres:

"If I would be a prophet I would say what is your prophecy? I say what I would like, is that instead of people fighting on the battlefield let them compete on the basketball ground."

10. 01:48 Mid of Stoudemire and Peres with Israeli youth.

STORYLINE:

Amar'e Stoudemire met with Israel's president Shimon Peres in Jerusalem on Thursday (18th July) - the six-time NBA All-Star with 'Hebrew roots' already has significant ties to Israeli basketball, last month he joined a group looking to buy Hapoel Jerusalem, a popular team in Israel's top league.

SCRIPTING INFORMATION:

Israel's president has invited New York Knicks star Amar'e Stoudemire to play for Israel's national basketball team because of his ties to Judaism.

Shimon Peres met with Stoudemire on Thursday (18th July) to discuss the player's charity efforts.

Stoudemire, who says he has 'Hebrew roots', has visited Israel before and Peres urged him to help out the national squad.

The six-time NBA All-Star already has significant ties to Israeli basketball - last month he joined a group looking to buy Hapoel Jerusalem, a popular team in Israel's top league.

The New York Knick is in Israel to coach the Canadian basketball team at the Maccabiah Games, a competition for Jewish athletes worldwide.

Stoudemire won a bronze medal with the American national team at the 2004 Olympics, but has not played for the United States since 2007.

MICHAEL DOUGLAS IN ISRAEL FOR $1 MILLION PRIZE

When actor Michael Douglas learned that he had been chosen to receive the "Jewish Nobel Prize," he pointed out a small problem: Under strict religious law, the Oscar-winning actor isn't Jewish.

Douglas, who only recently has embraced his Jewish roots, is vowing to use the $1 million Genesis Prize to build bridges between Israel and increasingly assimilated Jewish communities around the world.

"Abraham's tent had its flaps open and so hopefully since approximately half of the Jewish population in the world is outside of Israel, we can find ways to better understand each other and to grow together," Douglas told The Associated Press in an interview.

Douglas, accompanied by his wife, actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, and their two children, is in Israel this week to accept the Genesis Prize. Jay Leno will host the high-powered event, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to present the award.

Douglas, 70, wearing a light beige suit and purple tie, appeared relaxed and energetic. He said he remains cancer free after being diagnosed with oral cancer in 2010, and that his marriage to Zeta-Jones is going strong after hitting a rough patch two years ago.

"Catherine is wonderful," he said. "Our kids are here, and we're having a fantastic time. Life is good."

Douglas, known for a career of macho and sometimes morally ambiguous roles, won the Academy Award for best actor for starring in the 1987 movie "Wall Street." Other films have included "Fatal Attraction," ''Basic Instinct" and "Traffic." He also won an Emmy in 2013 for his portrayal of Liberace in the HBO production "Behind the Candelabra." He is set to star in the upcoming superhero movie "Ant-Man."

For Douglas, the Genesis Prize caps a process that was generations in the making. His father, actor Kirk Douglas, was born Issur Danielovitch to Russian immigrant parents and raised as an Orthodox Jew. But he drifted away from his faith. Michael Douglas' mother, actress Diane Dill, is not Jewish.

Douglas said he began to be drawn to Judaism after his father survived a 1991 helicopter crash that left two others dead. He said that his father began studying the Bible with a rabbi. "I was certainly touched by that and the spirituality it brought to him," he said.

More recently, he said his son Dylan had grown interested in Judaism and decided he wanted to have a bar mitzvah, a Jewish coming-of-age ceremony for 13-year-old males.

"So he's brought a spirituality to our life and an awareness of Judaism that we did not have," Douglas said. Last year, the family came to Israel after Dylan's bar mitzvah. Douglas says he now belongs to a Reform synagogue in New York.

Similar stories are common in the U.S., where nearly 60 percent of Jews now marry outside the faith, according to a 2013 Pew Research Center survey.

But in Israel, intermarriages and liberal streams of Judaism popular in the U.S., including the Reform movement, are not recognized by the official rabbinical authorities.

Under a complicated arrangement, Israel allows anyone with at least a Jewish grandparent to qualify for citizenship under its "Law of Return." Yet the ultra-Orthodox rabbinate oversees civil services for Jews, including circumcisions, weddings, divorces and burials.

That means that Douglas and his son could theoretically immigrate to the Jewish state, but as the children of intermarriages, they could not marry or have a Jewish burial here.

Under Orthodox Jewish law, only people with a Jewish mother are considered Jewish.

Douglas said he raised this issue when the Genesis Prize Foundation approached him about its award. But he said the group was interested in him because he represented so many other people in similar positions. In its announcement, it praised Douglas' family for its "inclusive approach for Jews of diverse backgrounds."

Douglas will have his work cut out for him. The Reform and Conservative movements, which are dominant among U.S. Jewry, have struggled for recognition in Israel, providing an occasional source of tension between Israel and American Jews.

Douglas said he realized his selection could raise eyebrows in some quarters of Israel.

"I don't expect dramatic changes, certainly among the Orthodox and the ultra-Orthodox," he said. But he said he hoped that Israelis would realize that Jews are a "very very small minority" in the rest of the world and everyone must get along. He said he plans on using his prize money to support a number of Jewish organizations that promote inclusiveness, including the Jewish college organization Hillel.

Douglas comes at a difficult time for Israel and the Jewish people. Anti-Semitism is on the rise in Europe, and Israel has been confronting a burgeoning boycott movement by pro-Palestinian activists who, among other things, have pressured entertainers not to visit Israel.

Douglas said he has not been a target of the boycott movement, but called it "an ugly cancer."

The Genesis Prize was inaugurated last year in a partnership between the Israeli prime minister's office, the Genesis Philanthropy Group, a nonprofit group that promotes Jewish education for Russian-speaking Jews worldwide, and the chairman's office of the Jewish Agency, a nonprofit group with close ties to the Israeli government

AP ENTERTAINMENT

Tel Aviv, 17 June 2015

1. Zoom-in former Israeli President, Shimon Peres, Chairman of the Jewish Agency, Natan Sharansky (last one from left) clapping; they're on stage together with

actor Michael Douglas. The three of them are attending a discussion on international affairs at the Peres Peace Center

2. Pan right from Michael Douglas to Shimon Peres, both on stage

3. Wide Michael Douglas, Shimon Peres and Natan Sharansky on stage

AP ENTERTAINMENT

Jerusalem, 17 June 2015

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Michael Douglas/Actor - on his health after having cancer:

"My health is great; unless your editors know more than I do. But I'm 5-year-clean. I get my check-ups normally on a 6-month basis. Normally at 5 years you can say you are clean."

Reporter: "You're here with your wife. I know there was a brief separation. Is everything ok on the home front?"

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Michael Douglas/Actor

"Yea, I mean, that's a while ago, at least a couple of years ago. Two, three years ago there was a brief...no, Catherine is wonderful, kids are here, we're having a fantastic time, life is good. They still want you to work a little bit. It's always nice to see."

Reporter: "Are there any projects you want to talk about?"

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Michael Douglas/Actor

"Well, I have...you'll be hearing I'm doing a big marvel comic movie: 'Ant Man' is coming out in July of this year, which should be all over the place."

Reporter: "Are you gonna be a superhero?"

Michael Douglas: "I could be"

AP ENTERTAINMENT

Tel Aviv, 17 June 2015

9. Pan right from audience to Michael Douglas, Shimon Peres and Natan Sharansky on stage

10. SOUNDBITE (English) Michael Douglas/Actor -speaking on the issue of Iran's nuclear weapons

"With all the chaos that exists in the Middle East (it) is my deepest and biggest concern, so we have a review, a nuclear non-proliferation review coming up, which I think is crucial. We have certain treaties that really need to be reminded about and to be put back in place. And try to put this genie back in the bottle. We do not need any other countries with nuclear weapons."

11. Michael Douglas receiving prize and holding it; zoom-in on Michael Douglas shaking hands with Shimon Peres

12. Mid exterior of Peres Peace Center reading (in Hebrew, Arabic and English): "Peres Peace House"

SHOTLIST (including transcript):-

AP Entertainment

Tel Aviv, 8 March 2016

1. Wide shot British model Naomi Campbell receiving prize from former Israeli President Shimon Peres

2. Medium shot Campbell and Peres

3. Close-up of writing in background (Hebrew, English and Arabic) "Peres Center for Peace"

4. Wide shot ``group photo of Campbell and leading Israeli women

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Naomi Campbell, model:

"I'm someone that rises to challenges. My mother always taught me to never use an excuse to not have something or to give up. So there are obstacles but I'm someone who I will find another way to get it."

6. Wide shot Peres and Campbell on stage

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Shimon Peres, former Israeli President:

"If I would have to name this day, I wouldn't call it the women's day but the human day. I think humanity that discriminates (against) women is inhumane."

8. Wide shot Campbell and Peres watching girls playing football

9. Tilt up from football jersey with Campbell and "peace" written on it (in English Arabic and Hebrew) to Campbell and Peres

NAOMI CAMPBELL HONORED IN TEL AVIV

Israel's former President Shimon Peres presented British model Naomi Campbell with an award on Tuesday (8 MARCH 2016), honoring her work helping women.

Peres, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, handed Campbell the award in Tel Aviv on International Women's Day.

Campbell is active in a number of charitable causes, among them women's rights and breast cancer awareness.

At the event, Campbell watched a group of Arab, Jewish and Palestinian girls play football.

The supermodel also was introduced to some 200 female leaders from Israeli society - among them journalists, activists and various trailblazers in their fields.

STORYLINE

Israeli President Shimon Peres welcomed his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to an official state dinner at his residency in Jerusalem on Monday evening.

It was Putin's second trip to Israel, having last visited seven years ago.

At the dinner, Peres urged Putin to step up pressure on Iran to curb its suspected nuclear programme.

Israel and Russia enjoy deep economic and cultural relations bolstered by the more than one (m) million immigrants from the former Soviet Union who now live in the Jewish state.

But they have deeply differing approaches to Iran's nuclear programme and the uprising in Tehran's close ally Syria.

Russia has blocked drastic action against the two countries, while Israel has repeatedly hinted it may act militarily to stop Iran's nuclear programme.

Upon his arrival at the president's residency in Jerusalem, Putin's convoy passed by a small demonstration of peace activists blasting Putin for failing to exert stronger pressure on the Syrian regime to end the bloodshed.

"He (Putin) is responsible for the support Russia is giving Syria in the slaughter of its own citizens which we do not accept," said activist Ilan Baruch.

Baruch said the Israeli government should condemn the Russian stance too.

Russia, which holds veto-wielding power at the United Nations Security Council, has consistently shielded Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime from international sanctions over its violent crackdown on anti-government protests.

Russia has also continued to provide Syria with arms, despite Western calls for a halt in supplies.

POOL

++4:3++

1. Mid of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli President Shimon Peres at welcoming ceremony, walking on red carpet and greeting children

2. Mid of both leaders saluting honour guard

3. Various of Putin and Peres walking along red carpet

4. Putin signing guest book

5. Peres and Putin shaking hands before entering meeting room

6. Mid of Putin and Peres at meeting

7. Various of Peres and Putin entering official state dinner, UPSOUND: applause

8. Mid of Peres and Putin

9. Mid of leaders shaking hands and sitting down

10. Various of Putin and Peres seated at dinner

AP TELEVISION

++16:9++

11. Mid of Putin's convoy driving to the Israeli president's residency, pan to protesters standing behind metal barrier, police in front

12. Close of protester holding up sign reading (English): "Persona Non Grata"

13. Mid of protest

14. SOUNDBITE (English) Ilan Baruch, peace activist:

"Our condemnation to the fact that he is responsible for the support Russia is giving Syria in the slaughter of its own citizens which we do not accept. And we think that this message was to be made by our government, but the government is failing to do so, so we are doing it here in opposition to the government."

15. Mid of protesters surrounded by Israeli police